Katie Couric's Gun Controversy

Journalism is very powerful. We watch things on TV and generally feel "educated" by them--especially if they are called a "documentary." But you can't believe everything you hear, as this latest story about Katie Couric illustrates.

Couric recently did a documentary about gun violence, "Under the Gun," that is yet to air. She interviewed a gun rights group, the Virginia Citizens Defense League, as part of hearing "both sides of the story." Unfortunately, the gun rights group wouldn't get their full side accurately aired reports The Blaze.

Couric asks the VCDL about background checks for former felons. In the documentary, the VCDL appears stumped in silence. But this is not what really happened. The Blaze reports, "Couric and her team came under fire last week after the VCDL provided audio to the Washington Free Beacon showing that they responded to Couric’s question almost immediately."

Under intense criticism for her misleading portrayal, Couric has made an apology and pointed the blame at the film's director. “I take responsibility for a decision that misrepresented an exchange I had with members of the Virginia Citizens Defense League,” Couric said. “When I screened an early version of the film with the director, Stephanie Soechtig, I questioned her and the editor about the pause and was told that a ‘beat’ was added for, as she described it, ‘dramatic effect,’ to give the audience a moment to consider the question,” she explained.

But the VCDL does not see Couric's move as an accident or oversight. They consider it “creative editing” to make an “infomercial for gun control.” What do you think? Do you think the documentary was made with a heavy agenda in mind--and purposefully misrepresented gun rights groups?